The talented student and faculty musicians and performers at Belmont University are again offering the Nashville community the holiday-season gift of a series of free Christmas concerts.
On Friday, December 3 at 7:00 p.m., the Nashville Children’s Choir will present its annual holiday concert at Belmont Heights Baptist Church on the Belmont University campus. Admission is free and no tickets are necessary.
On Saturday, December 4 at 7:30 p.m. and again Sunday, December 5 at 2:30 p.m., the university presents this year’s edition of Christmas at Belmont, an annual celebration of holiday music that has become so popular in recent years that the School of Music added a second performance. Tickets are free for the concert at Massey Concert Hall but quantities are limited and tickets must be reserved in advance. Call 615-460-6408 to inquire about ticket availability.
Tickets for the Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 Christmas at Belmont shows are all gone. If you are not one of the lucky few with tickets to this year’s Christmas at Belmont concert, you can still see last year’s show on television. The 2003 Christmas at Belmont musical television special, taped live in December 2003 and hosted by Brenda Lee, will be rebroadcast nationwide on PBS affiliates on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. CST.
On Sunday, December 5 at 4:30 p.m., Lessons and Carols with Belle Voci, featuring traditional American and English carols in a traditional Christmas service, will be presented in Wightman Chapel at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. Admission is free and no ticket is necessary. The Nashville Youth Choir, part of the Nashville Children’s choir program, will also perform. The service is patterned after the one from King’s College and includes nine scripture readings interspersed with music of the season. Music to be sung includes Jubilate, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G by Charles Villiers Stanford; Hodie by Willan, Lo, How a Rose E’re Bloomin’ by Hugh Distler, and several congregational carols. Soloists include Tiffany Wharton, Grover Baker, and Stephen Smith. The service begins at 4:00 with music by the Capital Brass.
On Monday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m., the Belmont Camerata Musicale will present A Camerata Christmas, including holiday chamber music and a traditional folk song sing-along in the beautifully decorated Belmont Mansion. Admission is free and no ticket is necessary.
A Camerata Christmas will include the Corelli Christmas Concerto, a performance by the Belmont Jazz String Septet, arias from The Messiah performed by faculty members and operatic vocalists Tom Studebaker and Jennifer Coleman, as well as performances of folk Christmas tunes by well-known Nashville songwriter and performer Kathy Chiavola (a Belmont faculty member) and twin fiddlers Derek Deakins and Lisa Manning.
On Friday, December 24 at 2:00 p.m., Belmont University will close out the holiday concert series with a free Christmas Eve Carillon concert of traditional Christmas music, performed by Dr. Richard Shadinger, associate dean of the Belmont University School of Music. The Bell Tower is located on the campus near the corner of Belmont Boulevard and Portland Avenue.
